Offensive line

[Jaj]

Ruddy got pushed around non-stop and got a lot of holding penalties. He did not have a good year.

 

[fin-atic]

I don't know. I am having a hard time finding any positves about any of our lineman. Smith??? How many times was he trashed around the corner and gave up a sack/fumble? Five maybe six times?

Ruddy just too old. Perry just sucks. Wade is okay. Nails and Dixon can't stay healthy.

I can't say how many times this year Ricky was getting crushed in the backfield and our QBs were just poured in upon. You watch KC or Indy or anyone with a real line and the RB isn't even getting touched until he is five yards down the field. Screw this late round, may have potential crap. We need studs and bonafide hoss power up front.

This is neck and neck with QB as our biggest priority. When the Free Agency and Draft dust settle we need three new lineman and we need a new QB. Of the three lineman two need to be impact studs.

 

[Dolphins17-0]

smiths positives are simple.
-he's 22 (most linemen dont hit the field that early, and dont hit their prime for well after)
-he's already got 16 games under his belt(experience)
-he's athletic and intelligent from what i've read
-plenty capable of putting on muscle

the sky is the limit with the right work ethic and coaching, plus if we bring in a lefty (brunell) he wouldnt be the blind side, which would help solve some of those fumbls if he did make some of the same mistakes next year

 

[dolphan39]

you cannot say anything bad about Smith looking forward since he was not supposed to come in and start as a #3 - particularly because of his lack of college OT experience. Whitley was supposed to be the pick that had a shot to unseat Nails or Perry, but failed to even beat out his undrafted teammate in Yates.

And Smith made the all rookie team. If he just had help in that Indy game, we likely w/have beaten them, Griese may not have looked sooo bad and JT w/b in the PB over the highly overreated Freeney

 

[ckparrothead]

You don't need continuity on a line that is not all that talented.

Its time to bring in new blood. Bring in the types that Tony Wise wants or get Wise out of here.

We need new blood all over the place and I personally would not mind seeing everyone on the line replaced except Wade Smith.

 

[SMadison29]

Originally posted by dolphan39
And Smith made the all rookie team. If he just had help in that Indy game, we likely w/have beaten them, Griese may not have looked sooo bad and JT w/b in the PB over the highly overreated Freeney

Not really trying to discredit Smith becuase I think he's gonna be an excellent LT once he gets bigger & stronger, but he didn't really have to beat out anyone to make the all-rookie team.

 

[MDFINFAN]

Right now I see Yates as a guard before Whitney, I know money will be an issue, so I see the following:

W. Smith, Yates, Mckinney, Nails, Wade.

I would like to sign a vet guard to replace Yates. IF Dixon is healthy, put him there and Yates as his backup. Now the issue is quality bu's , a mix of vets and youth. If we can get a high draft pick of some sustances. I'd pick another Guard, then Center, then LT in that order in the second round, which we don't have right now. So we need another good quality quard FA. The OL is more important than the QB right now. In the first, I'd pick a QB, but I'm tore on the Sage thing. I want to know what he got.

 

[DeDolfan]

Originally posted by Dolphins17-0
I know it needs to be improved(just look at the ridiculous lines some of the playoff teams had), and everyone is calling for like 3-4 new starters, but for the most part this is the line that ricky ran for 1800 yards behind, just a couple years older... Nails should be recovered from injury, Wade Smith should be much improved, i know we have a lot of old or inadequate starters by most peoples standards and we have a lot of young unknowns backing them up(German, Yates, Whitley, McKinney).

We cant spend a ton of money on a bunch of olinemen in the offseason, not just because of our money situation, but because we need help elsewhere as well. Also, aside from the big two (gallery/andrews) the lineman in the draft should not be expected to be huge impacts their first year (maybe carey, but even that could be a stretch)

Furthermore, 3 totally new lineman would ruin our continuity, if you look at the teams left in the playoffs, not only are their lineman successful but most, if not the whole line, has been together for a decent amount of time. I think continuity of the line is underrated.

so whats the best option? Bring in one free agent lineman to play with nails, wade smith, mckinney, and the best of the rest we have.

bring in almost a whole new line short-term(we cant afford expensive long term deals for all of them), hope they gel fast, hold up the whole year, and their contracts dont hamper our ability to sign our draft picks/other free agents this year and for years to come.


what do you guys think is our best option and what do you think the new gm will do to address the OLine(Seems like QB is the top priority)?

I'm not sure about the continuity that could be ruined because we sure didn't have much this yr. I agree about nails and Smith [altho he could be moved around]. looking hard at fAs is a must and hopefully the immediate needs are addressed there OR WR even so we'll know which direction to go in the draft. Hopefully, FA will fill the OL since, iMO, WRs can contribute more as rooks perhaps. But first order of biz in the draft is a QB for the future yrs.